ACROSS THE NATION.

U.S. may open late McVeigh documents

May 24, 2001|By Items compiled from Tribune news services.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Justice Department lawyers are considering whether to disclose information about what is in the FBI documents that were belatedly turned over to Timothy McVeigh's lawyers, an official said Wednesday.

The documents were found as the FBI was gathering items that were part of the Oklahoma City bombing investigation. They were supposed to have been turned over to McVeigh's lawyers before his trial.

The discovery led the Justice Department to postpone McVeigh's execution until June 11.

Meanwhile, McVeigh's attorney disclosed Wednesday that he had received several hundred more pages of FBI materials, the fourth such delivery.

Attorney Nathan Chambers' disclosure was the first indication the FBI has found hundreds more documents since it admitted two weeks ago that it had discovered 3,135 pages that were supposed to have been given to the defense.

Also Wednesday, government attorneys asked a federal judge whether newly discovered documents could be turned over to prosecutors handling Terry Nichols' state trial in the bombing.

In a court filing, federal prosecutors said they saw no reason to withhold the newly released documents from Oklahoma authorities since other investigative reports were turned over previously.

"The United States is interested, as it has been throughout these proceedings, in producing to Oklahoma state authorities the same materials made available to these federal defendants so the state can discharge its ... responsibilities," prosecutor Sean Connelly wrote.

U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch ordered attorneys for McVeigh and Nichols to submit responses to the prosecutors' request by next Wednesday.